Holistic Survival Show

Today's Flash Back Friday comes from Episode 96, originally published in July 2012. How can robotics teach us about history, while showing us the future potential of technology? Hollywood depicts robots overthrowing the world. Is this actually possible? Join Jason Hartman as he interviews Professor of Biology John Long about how using robotics can help us understand evolutionary processes. Professor Long and his team build autonomous robots, including biomimetric robots, to study animals, living and extinct, learning how they behave and adapt. Professor Long’s specialty is fish, such as sharks, eels and dolphins. The robots are built to mimic the real creatures, some built as predators, some built as prey, and all are built to behave. As these robots make their own decisions, scientists can study the evolution of the robots to their ecological environment. Jason and Professor Long talk about the “growth” of the autonomous robots, generation to generation. They also touch on robotic cars that are becoming so e